Funny how they didn’t say the bucket wheel excavator wasn’t too heavy to motorise, that thing won’t move at all unless the clutch is brand new

So lego misspelled the city names on the stickers, were too lazy to even bother to motorize the train, completely changed the original engine from the original ideas submission, and were still like “yeah let’s charge 300 for it.”

I have NO idea why LEGO decided that it can't be motorised. I've seen realistic LEGO trains with meter-long wagons easily get pulled by a standard LEGO motor. Also the city names are very annoying. LEGO really didn't do the OE the justice it deserves. I love how the Crocodile locomotive looks with the wagons. Absolutely great!

"we tried for months' Fixes the problem in a few hours.

The fact that they couldn't be bothered to check a few city names on Google is INFURIATING. Really??? It's so sloppy. But yes, $300 please...

From the amount of easy to fix errors in this set, it seems like it wasn't a important priority for lego and/or didn't want to make it

Emerald Night came unmotorised but with instructions on how to fit a motor. Still my favourite train and I bought it RRP when it came out.

I believe it should be a rule that every train that LEGO releases should be able to be motorized but also include at the minimum instructions on how to do it. I have spoken / This is the Way !

This is what I love about Racing Brick and the Lego community in general. They'll fix the stuff Lego messes up and give more value to sets like this that should've been there from the beginning

Coming from HO model trains, a solution to increase the "power" of the locomotive is to add more weight to the locomotive. If the powered up motor has enough power, the control behavior is also better.

Thanks for testing the large motor! I'm glad to see that it has sufficient power in a configuration similar to the one that I plan to use.

Really any lego set can be motorized if you really try

The easiest and least intrusive way to motorize is , just simply swap out 1 or 2 bogies from a train car with 9v motors, for those who have 9v track 😃

Yeah.... i think the only reason they say its not motorizeable because the specs are just outside the motor specs. So its one of those situations they cant say it works because chances that it doesnt, or breaks, are higher. Not by much, but enough for them to put their high quality confirmation on it.

Pretty good job. Motorized trains make sense. Under the Christmas tree such a train would be perfect. Come on, lego. You can do it better. I know. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and test performances. I love it. Keep up the good work.

I think lego (and its designer) left the power up function to make us spend more money. Also, Why do i feel like some people may modify this train to look like the polar express. (As the colors are almost the same).

One other consideration is that the front four on the engine are the rubber band version of the train wheels; if they're not being used to drive the train's motion then they're adding friction. Might be worth swapping them out for metal axle versions if you want to reduce friction a bit.

I was thinking it would take a few weeks after release to have the set motorized, I was way off! I think part of leaving it out was the cost, a lot of people are complaining about the $200+ sets and want cheaper options.

Of all the early attempts from other UKpostsrs to motorize this set, yours is the best in terms of function and aesthetics. Great job!

Nicely done, I'm very glad to see a video where you show what's possible to fit in the engine, no one else has opened the boiler part up.

Other than the design of the locomotive, I think we have the best case scenario for this set. Lego train enthusiasts use trucks/bogies with roller bearings on 3rd party wide radius curved tracks. Even a single train motor could pull ten cars if they all have roller bearing wheels. I think your theory about cutting cost is correct. Lego designers released the set knowing those that have an interest would get the train motorized and running smoothly. Those that don't have an interest in motorization don't have to support the cost of the additional parts.

This set makes me believe that Lego might again be entering into era where the marketing department and bean counters decide about all the things. As a result, quality is pushed down to increase margins.

I would assume part of the issue with motorization of Lego trains is just how tight the curves are. As we saw in this testing the city Loco was doing fine on the straights, but the curves saw issues.

This shows that "LE-O" needs people like you with passion and not for money. A combination of business and pleasure.

Two reasons I think they didn't want to provide official power: - derailing tender in reverse - motor overheats due to increased weight Could even be that it is fine on its own, but they have a standard of any powered set must also be able to carry x number of extra cars from other sets..

Thank you for showing your testing. I had done those same steps in my head so thanks for saving me time! Totally should have been motorized!

I wish Lego sold more motor and electronic parts. They are really missing out on Official Lego LED kits, lighting brings another level to Lego.

Watched several reviews of the Orient Express, this is the most useful one. 👍

In my youth, on my Interrail Journeys, I occasionally saw the Blue Pullman wagons luxury train, on some of the major stations (mostly Paris) with ore. If this locomotive had been black, I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

love your content!

Brickstory motorized the tender with the normal Lego hub and train motor. It doesn't look great that way, but it works fine. 😀

Awesome review with excellent production value and some very good critique. New subscriber! 🤩

Brilliant video!! It's amazing how far Legos have evolved and the people who make them do things they weren't meant to do. And the fact you found a low power/low heat solution that actually makes it run decently makes Legos all the more timeless. I run a lot of the smaller trains like the N gauge sets and the tiny Z gauge Marklin sets. But the Lego Polar Express would make a beautiful "under the Christmas tree" running set.

I heard about this problem and was interested to find out if they had used the tender to hide a motor as well. Turns out that the tender us hollow and it would be perfectly easy to get a motor in there

I thinkt if you replace the Trainwheel elements with the old metal axle version it will ride more smooth as well. Maybe put some 2x6x2 weight bricks into the locomotive.

Thanks for doing this!

I remember the old days when you could buy the motor kit separate and the build instructions would let you build the thing with or without a motor. This was back in the days of the high-speed motor of course, but even the weird early mindstorms geared motors were still pretty good (and dear god they had torque for days)

Congrats for 200k

Congrats on 200k

Hey that L-Motor solution looks a little familiar! 😁 Glad to see that it works ahead of my own plans to motorize the set. If an ‘unofficial’ solution can be put forth for the fans to adapt, I’m sure more people might be swayed into picking up this set for themselves.

Neat and informative thank you!

Funny thing is the old school powered rails would do this easy, Its so sad lego went with battery powered trains instead of power through rails like model trains.

Thanks for the solutions. I think that makes up my mind and I will buy since it can be motorised. Although, I'll wait to see if the stickers/misprints/typos etc. are addressed in a later batch and buy it near the end of life.

Try testing it with lots of curves on the tracks. S bends and the switches are were i find all my train issues when building my trains.

Be carefull using Buwizz, not because it's bad, on the opposite, is far superior to any Official Lego Battery box element/software, but recently, Sariel was "Removed" from TLG, they didn't tell him why, but I just assume that was because he uses and support awesome 3rd party elements like Buwizz and Circuit Cubes... Regarding the Topic, I build my own trains with 6 Kilos, almost 4 meters long and can run smoothly with two 10 years old used powerfunctions elements. The Lego designer saying that little thing is to heavy, make me laugh a lot! I have a video with a 2000 parts Locomotive with 2 PF train motors and a Chinese lowcost battery, pulling a 10 meters long container train :) Keep the with your channel, you are doing a great job!

Great info on the Orient Express; I will definitely pick it up on sale. Congratulations on 200k subs brother!!!! Love your videos 🤙🤙🤙🤙

Now we know The Lego Group straight up lies to us. This should have only been $250 motorized.

could you please do a how to video on which is the best set to buy to get all the needed parts and how to implement the motor the best way?

I haven't looked into Power Functions stuff in like 15 years now, but my goodness, this stuff is actually overpowered. I would've smashed so many builds back in the day lol.

Hey racingbrick! You could try using a very light oil on the connecting rod pins on the engines wheels as well as the slot where the rod reciprocates at the engine. I bet the train would be much much smoother as I firmly believe the whole issue is the friction of those connecting rods and not the weight and taking them off all together might be the be solution. Sucks that its a brand new piece too!

I think extending the tender with 2 battery packs might be the simpeler but more expensive option that will make it work. The advantage is it will look closer to the original submission also

I have a similar setup on my MOC steam locomotive, old PF XL with BuWizz, works great.

I might get this, but it'll be a static display parked somewhere in my small city. I don't have space for a running train layout at all, let alone a train this long and wide. I do think it's odd that they didn't include any option for motorization, and I'd be tempted to add that, but the reality is I'd never run it anyway. Lego trains (and model trains in general) are the sort of thing I build and run once and then never touch again.

my guess is it had to do with long term stress to the motors and obviously the pricepoint for an already expensive set be driven even higher

I love your reviews. First, i LOVE the cars in the set. The engine -- not so much. I realize that Orient Express wanted to concentrate on the cars, and that is the main section but the dumb-downed the engine so much - how sad. I think the said they cant make the engine power and it would have gone overbudget. Lego sets a price for each set to achieve and with the power functions its over that price. I’m glad you got it work - maybe some might want this more now.

Thank you very much for this video. So much important information.

My personal theory about why LEGO said this set can't be motorized is that they want their engines to be overpowered. Specifically they want the engines to have a reserve of extra power for if kids end up attaching more cars, create custom cars, or just put more into the cars than what comes in the set. (or maybe so that the motors can still handle the load when the current starts to drop off) I think the cars may have been too heavy to allow the Express to have enough reserve power, and they couldn't find a way to lower the weight of the cars without removing a lot of the detail.

how is the performance through switches? Do any of the configurations you tested more better or worse when the train goes through a switch?

I REALLY want this around my Christmas tree, but I think I'm going to wait for double points or a discount somewhere else as well as hopefully fixed city names.

Now I want to see the set powered with the older 9v system

Thanks for sharing that. Looks pretty simple really. Definitely a must buy when the other retailers have it. What I want to know, is can you use that engine as a base to build up to the original design. Damn that was a cool locomotive! The tender needs to have one of the wheels able to slide to stop the derailing. I added a 3rd set of wheels to the tender on my Hogwart's express and had to make the extra set of wheels slide a bit.

Lego: This train set cannot be motorized RacingBrick: I am RacingBrick and I am a motor genius. “Dramatic camera shot of lego train steaming into a city”

One way to weight down the small tender is by using small 2x1 plates, and stack them together. Which should give the max amount of possible added weight and still be easily to assemble/dissasemble

Perfect, it's on my wishlist

That I thought too for the Unimog... There I build in a air tank between the axles... The space there is just enough ^^

first minute felt like the "previously on..." part ad the beginning of tv shows xd

Mine constantly derails on switch track, it seems to be the tender and the small wheels at the loco. Made sure that the switch track provides a smooth change to over, yet it still happens. Configuration I have is a a motor in the loco connected to a powered up box in the tender. Have tried other configurations but not strong enough to go up a one plate per track slope.

So I just powered the Orient Express tender, which is way easier I think, with the hub 88009 and train motor 88011 then swapped out the front wheels on the locomotive with the ones from the older Harry Potter train 75955 (cuz there much smoother) and it seems to run fine with that setup so far

Hopefully LEGO will release an official service pack with rubber bands for the wheels to fix this issue.

Von Mould King bekommt man übrigens mittlerweile den eigentlichen Entwurf des Orient Express für ungefähr 200€ voll motorisiert, mit Licht und Qualm aus dem Schornstein. Lego kann echt nix...

In the uk i have seen powered up motors for sale at the counter of lego stores and they are always in stock on line i wonder why

I'm happy the set doesen't include motor, otherwise it would be too expensive for me to want. But I do find it weird they havn't included instructions for powering it like they did with the Crocodile. I'm going to get the set at some point. But I will try and rebuild the locomotive, especially the connecting rods on the side, they look too weird and toyish for my liking. Otherwise I do like how the loco looks.

It’s a fantastic model. I’d get it and motorise it if I had the space for a train layout (using third party wide radius curve track of course).

Thank you. I wish you have a few more details on how you geared the engine. I pull 4 to 5 cars with my Emerald Night with no issues. I was going to make the tender larger and add 2 motors under it. That was what I did with my Disney Train.

Is there a way to buy the original idea submission

I haven’t seen this till this vid, I need this train

"If there's a will, there's a way"

yay you hit 201k before end of year

weird they didn't mention extra price with motorised components, or include it as an add-on. Maybe they didn't try the red elastic bands around the wheels that the gator uses. who knows

I liked it just for the thumbnail pic.....stayed for the great vid....two thumbs way up!!!!!❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉😮😮😮

I had a lego (OCTAN) tow truck with a motorised winch/crane on the back. That had a tiny 9V motor about the size of a 'OXO' cube, that would easily fit in that train!

I like the color of this Orient Express. It's a deep, rich blue color that stands out very well. I'm glad to see that others in the Lego community have figured out ways to power the train including yourself!

They may have said it was "too heavy to be motorized" because of motor load and wear. If the motor struggles, then it might cut down the lifespan of the motor unacceptably much. And if that is the case, then they would have to design a new more powerful motor just for this set. Or gear it down and have the train run slow, which is not much fun either.

Missed opportunity in the thumbnail. SB: Hold my gear

9 Volt track and motor for the win,

Fun thing with the trains... it's not really about power, but getting that power to work. Depending on how many drive wheels contact the rails and how much weight is pressing down on them, compared to the force reuired to pull the train, the wheels will slip and turn freely. Since the drive wheel size was directly connected to top speeds with steam locomotives, the cylinders created slightly uneven torque depending on where in the stroke they were, a noticable lag in reaction of the engine to throttle commands AND a purely mechanical throttle had limited fine adjustment capabilities, it was pretty difficult to ride the razor edge of enough torque to pull the train and too much torque to not slip. Add rigid axles and lack of individual electronic monitoring of each wheel, and the steamers had their work cut out for them. Old 12V Lego trains often included large, 3tall 2x6 or 2x8 bricks with heavy metal weights inside, to include in the engines. It increased the train weight, but in the good way: more pressing down on the drive wheels. So maybe just try and increase the weight of the engine, by stuffing some fishing weights or so over the wheels? I'd assume LEGO would hook some meters up to the motors and analyze the power consumption and strain. they likely have limits they don't want to exceed, so as not to wear out the motor too quickly. I kinda feel like having a proportionally increased 8W emerald knight as engine would have done wonders for this train set. But there is always the issue of LEGO curves just being too darn narrow for any sanely proportioned train :/

What if you were to build/combine two orient express train engine's, tender's, and cars into one big train, and power them, would it work?

Yes, all you need is the battery block, that weird one with 2 outlets, two powered train axels, 8 wheels (4 for each of the axels, and 4 beams (2 for one axel to hold the wheel to the axel)

What was the alternative hub you used at around 7:11? Also would it be reasonable to try and shove an xl motor in, like in the emerald night?

Hey,im have idea,why will not done Lego train or car work model Engine Stirling?

The lack of being able to motorized was what was stopping me I have wanted a lego train for years

what i can offer is find a suiteble soft O-ring in your local parts store and also add wheel bearing in to the coaches

It’s not really about weight. It’s more about the cars being much longer and the curves being too tight so of course when they hit the tight curves they’ll create more resistance. Another reason is the locomotive itself. Unlike diesel or electric engines steam engines driving wheels are much larger and fitted rigidly to the frame. As the flanges on the driving wheels brush against the rails in a tight curve it creates resistance and could slow the locomotive down unlike powered bogies which have much smaller wheels and can swivel around curves easily. Using wider curves can help solve that problem. And this might sound counterintuitive but the locomotive itself would need to be heavier ( including the tender so it doesn't get bumped off the track as easily. If there are flangelass wheels for the center axle on the tender that might also help ) as opposed to what Lego says so that enough weight presses down the driving wheels on the rails and create enough tractive effort for the locomotive to pull the train smoothly otherwise the engine would be running on the spot

I got this set for Christmas and I love it

Given how effective rubber is, would it not be a good idea for Lego to make the top layer of the sections of track that touch the wheels rubber? Or add rubber to wheels on their train sets?

Great video!

The tender seems a bit lightweight. How many LEGO weight bricks plus motor could be crammed in there to bring it's weight up to something that would be heavier and more efficient? Can it be modified enough to give additional traction with a motor in the locomotive itself?

I just have a question, can someone pls give a manual for attaching the magnetic couplers pls? (thanks whoever answers this)

I recently saw and ordered the Mould King Orient Express: it arrived with two motors, rechargeable battery box, loading cable, remote control, led lights, a functioning smoke module, 32 big radius tracks, fine prints and cost around €170. When built, it looks very much like the original Lego Ideas submission, is strikingly beautiful - the locomotive in particular - and all the parts are of a much higher quality than what you get from Lego!

so..they already made the tender battery ready, and putting a simple motor and some bands was enough… why on earth didn’t they provide official modification options?